1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera-shake correction mechanism that is adopted as a shaking correction function and the like for a digital still camera, digital video camera and the like, and which corrects for camera shaking, as well as to an image-capture apparatus equipped with such a mechanism.
2. Description of Related Art
There are three types of mechanisms that correct for or absorb the misalignment of the optical axis such as a camera-shake correction mechanism, anti-vibration mechanism and the like for an image-capture apparatus.
First, there is the “electronic camera-shake correction method” in which a blurred image received by an imaging device is corrected to a clearer image by having the position and color of the blurred image corrected electronically by some program.
Second, there is the “optical camera-shake correction method” in which a correction lens whose photographic lens is equipped with a vibration gyro mechanism is incorporated, and shaking is reduced by suppressing shifting of the light reaching the light receiving surface (image sensor) by correcting the optical axis by moving the correction lens in such a direction that the shaking would cancelled out.
Third, there is the “sensor shift camera-shake correction method” (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-110929 (Patent Document 1) and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-78891 (Patent Document 2)) in which camera shaking is corrected for by shifting back and forth, on a plane that is orthogonal to the optical axis, an imaging device in orthogonal directions.
In particular, the “sensor shift camera-shake correction method” does not require a lens for correcting shaking since the imaging device itself moves, and is advantageous in that it enables the realization of an image-capture apparatus that is small and that has a high picture quality shaking correction function.